Civil War Causes

By ryan.balaz

  • Second Continental Congress Ends Slave Trade

    Second Continental Congress declares that "that no slaves be imported into any of the thirteen United Colonies."

  • Declaration of Independence Ignores Slaves & Slave Trade

  • Northwest Ordinance

    The Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance, prohibiting slavery in the territories north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River.

  • Three-Fifths Compromise

    The Constitutional Convention settles on the three-fifths compromise; it will count three-fifths of a state's slave population in apportioning Congressional representation. Congress is also forbidden from ending the slave trade until 1808. Fugitive slaves who cross state lines must be turned over to their owners.

  • Eli Whitney Invents the Cotton Gin

    Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, which allows for the cultivation of short- staple cotton and revolutionizes the industry, dramatically increasing its profitability and the land areas that can be utilized for growing the crop. This dictates the westward spread of cotton growing and its backbone: slave labor.

  • Missouri Compromise

  • Abolitionist Newspaper - The Liberator - Published

  • Compromise Tariff of 1833

  • Last Compromise of 1850

  • California Gold Rush

  • Underground Railroad

  • Fugitive Slave Act

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin Published

  • Kansas - Nebraska Act

  • John Brown Attack on Harper's Ferry

  • Dred Scott vs. Sanford

  • Lincoln Douglass Debates

  • Lincoln Elected President

  • Cornerstone of Confederacy Speech Given

  • Attack on Fort Sumter - Start of Civil War